Management Crisis - Foreign Boss In Thai Office

[rostovru]

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

I own a company in Thailand with 25 employees. As we outsource work to foreigners, 20 of our employees are foreign while 5 are Thai.

I manage everyone in the company, but spend most of my time in the office with the Thais as the foreigners are almost always out in the field.

I have extreme difficulty maintaining personal relationships with two of my Thai staff. Specifically, I feel that I'm generally the recipient of near constant passive-agressive behavior. This behavior is infantile, and I choose to make an effort to focus on the positive while understanding that their behavior is an indicator of an underlying problem.

These two staff are the staff whom I work with most closely. One of the staff is a shareholder in the business and the second-in-command, and hence, is with the company out of personal interest. The other is a salesperson who can ultimately stay or leave as he wishes.

Recently, the salesperson asked me for more money than we had previously agreed upon for a car rental (we use his car occassionally even though we have a company car). I did not approve the request. I didn't speak to him directly about this, but rejected the request because the previous rate was fair and I pay for his daily parking - something we never agreed to but that I quietly decided to do when he turned in his receipts for the greater good of the office.

This was on Monday. Now, this salesperson will not even give me an update on his sales visits. For example yesterday, he would not pick up my call nor respond to my text, but he did call when it was time to drop off the company car. When I asked him for an update, he said that he was too busy driving.

Obviously, there was a problem. I didn't say much back, but maintained a cordial tone despite being insulted. I later asked my second-in-command about the ordeal, and he said that he can't tell me anything, but that I should be careful. This point is particularly frustrating as I feel my second-in-command is in general not receptive to foreigners. The irony...

This salesperson is valuable to the company. He has been resourceful, and willing to step in and do the work. He is not a lazy character, but rather someone who I feel I can trust despite his tone with me.

With this in mind, I've made distinct efforts to give him maximum flexibility in his sales roles so that he can sell our product according to Thai consumer demands. I believe this to be important for his success.

I ask him for his ideas, and generally sign off on this thinking. Occasionally, however, I disagree with the path he wants to take, and work to gently steer him in my direction. It is excrutiating as my money is on the line and my nature is to be direct; however, I'm well aware that direct statements will almost certainly alienate most Thais and lead to extensive damage, while having patience can lead to rewards.

These situations are frustrating for reasons too numerous to list, but first and foremost because my employees expect me to respect them, which I make a strong effort to do everyday, but continually gang up against me to blame me for every problem. Moreover, they often treat me in such a disrespectful way that if I were Thai, would almost certainly result in me never speaking or cooperating with them again.

I am the boss, and I accept that the boss is always the scapegoat. However, I am confounded at the complete lack of respect that I receive as someone who has made a distinct effort to respect them.

I want to resolve this issue, and am looking for advice. I cannot fire my salesperson - at the moment -and I cannot have him quit as we are in the midst of the busiest time, and I need him to perform for at least the next month. Moreover, I would rather attempt to sort things out than go in the direction above. It would be a real set back to recruit and train a new sales to step into a role that has been months in the making.

How can I salvage this mess?

[Chang_paarp]

Increase the size of the sales force.

[harrry]

Ask him to contact a car rental company for you so that you can rent an additional company car to use.

[scotto]

Stick with it until the busy time is over then get rid of him,as you rightly say you are the boss

its your money and he is walking all over you?would you do that in your home country?

I doubt it so why do it now? Thats what i would do anyway.

[ajarnpot]

passive aggressive behaviour seems quite common and it seems what could be considered a trifle can make an enemy for life out of a worker. Personally I've had enough of treading on eggshells, and let the haters hate

[kblaze]

Although you say there has been hostility towards you before the pay raise rejection, that is probably the catalyst for your salesman's recent actions. You admit he is good for the company, so I'm assuming he does well in sales and thus makes some decent money. He probably garners respect from the other thais from his outperformance as well. So not getting a raise is an affront to his pride. Now of course I'm not saying he should get a raise, I'm not you, but I'm just pointing out that the pay raise rejection undoubtedly has affected his feelings toward you. He could be looking for work elsewhere already.

What would I do?

You need a Thai ally. You need your second in command. If you can't get the second in command, a Thai, to be on your side, then it will be nearly impossible for the other Thais to respect you as they should. Thais gossip and talk alot about foreigners in the workplace, so the hostile atmosphere in the office is likely being spread from the top-down. My boss, a foreigner, gets along with the Thais because the assistant manager likes him and thus sends good vibes down the employee pipeline.

Arrange a dinner/drinks/something with your second in command, a one on one casual meeting. Be honest yet firm about your feelings and even ask his/her advice on how to improve your relationship with Thais. Im not talking about business advice obviously since you are the boss and that wouldn't look good. More along the lines of "maybe I need to better understand Thai culture" (even if you don't, just say it) This is a feminine, not masculine culture. Try to relate to him/her on a personal level and be sure they realize you are having this meeting because you want to improve the company. Once the ice is broken, you can be more forthcoming.

Having said that, firing the two would be the best option if you think replacements will be fairly easy to come by. But i gather from your post that if that was a viable choice you would have done it already.

Western rigidity and the old "hard-ass" boss mentality can work here if your industry has high turnover and there are plenty of candidates lining up for the job. But if you are in the unfortunate situation of being held captive by your employees, swallow your pride and try your best to get them on your side.

With your second-in command on your side, you are likely to get some insight into what is truly driving your salesman's assholeness.

[tombkk]

You need to learn about cross-cultural management. There are a lot of companies in Thailand providing training, Google knows them. To get a first idea, go to this link and compare it to your home country. Be amazed about the different priorities people from different countries have in their lives. Then, as a next step, understand your staff, and then, learn to lead them.

No, running a company in Thailand is not the same as in other countries. The reason is that your employees don't follow your home country's standards. You need to learn theirs, as you live in their country.

That's a prerequisite. Next, we can talk about leadership in Thailand.

[rostovru]

@Kblaze, I did a variation of what you recommended, and it worked beautifully. We were actually able to improve the relationship and I was able to motivate him to perform at a higher level. Your advice is fantastic. Thanks.

@tombkk, I never said in my post nor expected in reality that running a company in Thailand would be like in other countries. It would be foolish to invest hard earned capital without having done even basic research. I, as we all, have much to learn, but certainly did my homework before starting my company two years ago. Thank you for your input.

[MrHammer]

Interesting topic. Dealing with employees and their own individual goals and motivation can be hard enough I imagine (why I prefer freelancers!), but doing so with people of a different culture must be quite the task.

It seems you have improved things, but I think sound advice would be to work on not becoming that dependent on one employee. Can't have one clog in the machinery bring everything to a halt. I'd consider giving that salesman a rise in commission rate while hiring a second salesman to create some additional competition. In my experience, sales people are motivated by money and competition. Both give them a chance to show that they're the best. Freedom to make a lot of money while being subject to constant competition seems to motivate many people drawn to sales.

In the west, freedom to achieve results in your own way seems to be the current mantra, don't know how that translates to Thailand.

[kblaze]

@rostovru

Great to hear things have improved! best of luck mate

[ajarnpot]

You need to learn about cross-cultural management. There are a lot of companies in Thailand providing training, Google knows them. To get a first idea, go to this link and compare it to your home country. Be amazed about the different priorities people from different countries have in their lives. Then, as a next step, understand your staff, and then, learn to lead them.

No, running a company in Thailand is not the same as in other countries. The reason is that your employees don't follow your home country's standards. You need to learn theirs, as you live in their country.

That's a prerequisite. Next, we can talk about leadership in Thailand.

interested in the leadership tombkk,

[Tomtomtom69]

If you only have 5 Thais out of a total workforce of 25, then that's only 20% locals. Given that ratio, I find it hard to believe that the Thais you are working with are not a bit intimidated by themselves being outnumbered by foreigners and given they're Thais and thus probably can't speak English well, they would probably never have much of an input at meetings. At a previous company I worked for, our boss would interrupt Thai employees struggling when speaking and finish their sentences for them after which the meeting would continue without much of their input. In general though, only one Thai employee would ever do any talking anyway, and it was this mid-level manager who would be stopped mid-sentence. Mind you time is money and we couldn't spend twice as long for a meeting just because of language difficulties especially when the mid-level manager didn't have much say in the business anyway.

My view is that you should do what harry and scotto have suggested. Go to www.avisthailand.com and rent a car from them. There is little reason to rent from a private individual, rent from a big firm like them, they are professional, multinational and offer good rates, probably better than anyone else could offer you. Other rental firms like Hertz and Budget are similar, but more expensive.

Once the busy season is over, fire this annoying co-worker, BUT in the meantime try and mediate the situation. If it doesn't work, then you will know that firing this person is the best thing you can do once the busy season is over.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Tomtomtom69

[Changnoi2]

Let him sweat. Tell him you want a meeting with him at the end of the day on Pay day. Then Be late for the meeting. He will change his attitude on his own.

[aras]

don't pay for cross cultural stuff.........they only work partially because they make you think about it. the rules etc they provide generally don't work.

Somethings work for one and doesn't work for the other.

It is hard to give advice because everyone reacts and interprets information differently. If we would say you should be firm and be the boss and dont take s...t, one might overdo it and worsen the situation.

Safest way is to invite him to a personal meeting (possibly outside the office ) and be kind and ask tell him about what you think his behavior is like and ask him why/ what his problem is with you. Don't beg for his love, they are used to authority...so you are the authority but of a kinder sort. He should know that you give him a chance to express/ explain himself and yet you are willing to get rid of him if he doesn't commit to improve the relationship.

By what you have written i get the impression ( i may be wrong ) that you are scared to take control of the matter and be proactive. People who are used to authoritative relationships with elders..richer...higher class people etc smell weakness and it doesn't do you any good. Also personal relationships and eye to eye contact is important...yo seem to have avoided this and hence gave him the freedom to construct a behavior without you interfering.

Sorry for the bad writing but ...................good luck